Sialkot Gatha: The Sialkot Saga

Set in post Independence India, the storyline of Sialkot Saga is about a business rivalry between two men Arbaaz and Arvind that takes off when a train leaking blood arrives in Sialkot during the post partition murderous riots.The train was only carrying the dead, slaughtered by a mad communal fury till someone noticed signs of life in one of the bodies in the train.From there on the story moves between Bombay and Calcutta, with interjections of scenes from Indian history.Contemporary history is juxtaposed with besides historical contexts, the theme of rags to riches for partition riot refugees is woven with a lot of details of the days after independence creeping into the narrative.Much of the story revolves around the lives of the two central protagonists but one is a little surprised to find known personalities like former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee figure in what is a fiction story.The theme is similar to that of bestsellers Wall Street, Master of the Game and Rockefeller but this one gets an Indian setting about conflict and rivalry of ambitious and successful businessmen.The story may be a time tested formula but the detailing and post independent contemporary India scenario is realistic and Sanghi, the author, has done a lot of research to get the right context for setting up the plot.